Is it der, die oder das Baustein?

Finding the right gender of a noun

German articles are used similarly to the English articles,a and the. However, they are declined differently (change) according to the number, gender and case of their nouns.

In the German language, the gender and therefore article is fixed for each noun.

The most difficult part of learning the German language is the articles (der, die, das) or rather the gender of each noun. The gender of each noun in German has no simple rule. In fact, it can even seem illogical. For example das Mädchen, a young girl is neutral while der Junge, a young boy is male.

It is a good idea to learn the correct article for each new word together - even if it means a lot of work. For example learning "der Hund" (the dog) rather than just Hund by itself. Fortunately, there are some rules about gender in German that make things a little easier. It might be even nicer if these rules didn't have exceptions - but you can't have everything! The best way to learn them is with the App - Der-Die-Das Train! (available for iOS and Android)

German nouns belong either to the gender masculine (male, standard gender) with the definite article der, to the feminine (feminine) with the definite article die, or to the neuter (neuter) with the definite article das.

• for masculine: points of the compass, weather (Osten, Monsun, Sturm; however it is: das Gewitter), liquor/spirits (Wodka, Wein, Kognak), minerals, rocks (Marmor, Quarz, Granit, Diamant);

• for feminine: ships and airplanes (die Deutschland, die Boeing; however it is: der Airbus), cigarette brands (Camel, Marlboro), many tree and plant species (Eiche, Pappel, Kiefer; aber: der Flieder), numbers (Eins, Million; however it is: das Dutzend), most inland rivers (Elbe, Oder, Donau; aber: der Rhein);

• for neutrals: cafes, hotels, cinemas (das Mariott, das Cinemaxx), chemical elements (Helium, Arsen; however it is: der Schwefel, masculine elements have the suffix -stoff), letters, notes, languages and colors (das Orange, das A, das Englische), certain brand names for detergents and cleaning products (Ariel, Persil), continents, countries (die artikellosen: (das alte) Europa; however exceptions include: der Libanon, die Schweiz …).

German declension of Baustein?

How does the declension of Baustein work in the nominative, accusative, dative and genitive cases? Here you can find all forms in the singular as well as in the plural:

[1] Stone for building walls, buildings and the like

[2] Translated: part

[1] Ein Philosoph, etwas närrisch wie alle seines Schlages, verließ eines Tages die Stadt, in der viele Häuser gebaut wurden, um keinen Ziegel oder Baustein auf den Kopf zu kriegen.

[1] Da der weiße Marmor der vorherrschende Baustein ist, so hat es, wenn man die Stadt von der Höhe eines der fernen Berge betrachtet, den Anschein, als läge ein silbrig strahlendes Gestirn auf der Erde.

[2] Andrea Asch räumt ein, daß mit einem Aktionstag pro Jahr keine Umorientierung bei den Mädchen erreichbar ist. Er könne nur ein Baustein unter »sehr vielen Maßnahmen« sein.

[2] Die Raumsonde "Cassini" lieferte Daten, wonach der Mond neben Wärme und Eis auch über organische Chemikalen verfügt - wichtige Bausteine für die Entstehung von Leben.